PDO for Utgard and Byrding Approved

The plan for development and operation for the Utgard and Byrding fields in the North Sea has been approved by the authorities, Norwegian oil & gas giant Statoil said on Tuesday.

Utgard is a gas and condensate field on Norwegian and UK continental shelf while Byrding is an oil and gas field north of the Troll field.

“I’m pleased that the plan for development and operation of Utgard and Byrding now has been approved. These projects will give valuable new volumes to the Sleipner and Troll field. Efficient utilization of existing infrastructure contributes to reducing the costs and make these developments profitable,” says Torger Rød, senior vice president for project development in Statoil.

Capital expenditures for Utgard are projected at about NOK 3.5 billion while for Byrding the capex is estimated to near NOK 1 billion.

Recoverable volumes are estimated at 56 million barrels of oil equivalents. Utgard was discovered in 1982 and is located 21 kilometers from the Sleipner field. The discovery has been considered for development on several occasions in the past

Utgard straddles the UK-Norway median line, with the majority of the reserves being located on the Norwegian side.

The field development includes two wells in a standard subsea concept, with one drilling target on each side of the median line. The installations and infrastructure will be located in the Norwegian sector.

The gas in Utgard has a high CO2 content, and will benefit from carbon cleaning and storage facilities at Sleipner.

Recoverable volumes are projected at approximately 11 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Byrding development includes a duo-lateral well drilled from the existing Fram H-Nord subsea template through which oil and gas from Byrding will flow to Troll C.

The duo-lateral well to be drilled is approximately seven kilometers long, the first kilometers being shared by the two laterals.